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In Chicago Public Schools there is a need to provide guidance to schools on placing students into an intro-level CS class (ECS) or the more difficult AP CSP as a student’s first CS class. Previous work created a placement exam based on the ECS curriculum to identify students prepared for AP CSP without taking ECS. This analysis found that after controlling for many variables including GPA, sex, attendance at a selective enrollment school, and perceived value of CS, that the placement score was positively associated with the probability of a student passing the AP CSP exam. 

This study analyzes the impact of the Chicago Alliance for Equity in Computer Science (CAFÉCS) Research Practice Partnership (RPP) on the Chicago Public School (CPS) Office of Computer Science (OCS). Using a qualitative analysis drawing on data from leadership team meetings, published articles and presentations, and evaluation reports from 11 years of the partnership, we utilized a framework developed by the CAFÉCS leadership team to document the impact on district (1) Programs, (2) Research, (3) Organizational Structures, and (4) Policies leading to (5) Equitable Results for students, condensed as PROSPER. In particular, we explore the role of the RPP in supporting a 500% increase in graduating students who completed at least one high school computer science (CS) course between 2016 and 2020 in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). This study adds to the existing literature on assessing the impact of RPPs through the development of the PROSPER Framework, which may be a useful tool to help RPPs examine impacts on partner districts.